The present invention relates generally to home appliances such as paint application rollers, brushes and the like which are manipulated by means of a telescoping, extensible handle.
In one form, the invention is embodied in a paint roller that includes three telescoping elements adapted to provide the utmost in simplicity and reliability of manipulation, light weight and rigidity at low cost. In addition, the principles of the invention are applicable to other related but different apparatus such as scrapers, brushes, and the like wherein a properly designed, low cost, extensible handle is needed.
In recent years, particularly with the development of carefully formulated, water dilutable paints able to be applied by rollers, there has been a continuing demand for a paint roller that will meet a number of criteria.
Referring now to the requirements for a paint roller, such a product must be very sturdy, even in the extended position. While paints of the kind customarily applied by rollers are thixotropic, and hence somewhat resistant to dripping, any undue play or wobbling in the handle is definitely detrimental to roller performance. Particularly when it is considered that much painting is done above floors, furniture, rugs, and other articles to be protected against splash, drip or spray, it is essential that the handle be free from any tendency to wobble during use.
Moreover, it is very important that the handle, although made in segments adapted to telescope, be positively locked against both axial play and radial or rotational movement. Manipulating the roller so as to place it flat against the surface to be painted is an important aspect of paint application. If the roller tends to rotate around the handle axis, application of the paint can be erratic and problematical.
Regarding the ability to telescope, while a long handle is desired for a number of uses, limits on storage space and manipulation in the vicinity of the paint tray and on ladders require that the unit be able to be collapsed or telescoped smoothly into a compact position without difficulty. In this connection, the ability to loosen and/or tighten the respective telescoping sections relative to each other without application of high forces, is very important. The locking and releasing action must be able to be accomplished easily, inasmuch as such action may be required to be taken even when the roller is filled with paint.
For example, it may sometimes be desirable to fill the paint roller from the tray while the handle is in a retracted position and thereafter to extend the handle while the roller remains filled with paint. Components that extend only with sudden, jerky movements have the potential for permitting paint to splash and drip; this is also a risk to be avoided.
While the prior art has provided constructions which, if able to be manipulated properly, have met some of the above criteria, even the best prior art products have suffered from one or more drawbacks. In particular, these drawbacks or shortcomings lay in the area of the ability of a three-piece device to secure two relatively rotatable parts for clamping or releasing relative to each other, when and to the extent desired. Thus, it is important that the roller be able to be manipulated so that any one section can be moved relative to an adjacent section without requiring a particular sequence of extension and retraction, and without the need to grasp the components in an awkward manner or in a way which requires tools or the like.
In one prior art construction which is similar to the present invention but relative to which the present invention is a substantial improvement, a pair of cam lock devices have been provided for a rod and tube type of paint roller assembly. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,751,748, issued Aug. 14, 1973 to Roe et aI., a pair of locking devices are provided, one to permit a pair of telescoping tubes to be moved or be locked relative to each other and a second cam lock arrangement to permit a rod portion of the unit to be telescoped relative to one of the tubes.
In such an apparatus, manipulating the cam lock so as to move one tube relative to the other is able to be readily accomplished. However, grasping and manipulating the elements necessary to move the rod relative to the smaller tube have proven problematical and erratic in use. In particular, when it was desired to extend the rod portion of the handle relative to the smaller tube, especially when the roller is filled with paint and the larger tube is fully nested, this has not been able to be accomplished in an easy, reliable and consistent manner.
In particular, the portion of the cam lock that is required to be held against rotation relative to the rod is of a small ferrule-like construction with a minimal axial extent. Securing this element against rotational movement relative to the rod has proven difficult and in some cases impossible without using tools such as pliers or the like. Expanding its axial extent would appear to compromise its ability to telescope fully.
In this connection, it will be appreciated that tightening and releasing the handle elements by relative rotation of two parts is theoretically almost foolproof. However, many users, in their anxiety to insure that there will not be axial or rotational movement of the components relative to each other, manually overtighten the locking elements, thus securing the parts together in very tight relation. When it is time to release these parts relative to each other, one portion of the lock, in prior art devices, has undesirably remained locked against rotation and is unable to be grasped for this purpose without either extending the other part of the handle or using tools such as pliers. Needless to say, the use of tools or auxiliary means to position and secure a roller, especially when loaded with paint, constitutes a drawback in an otherwise satisfactory product.
It would be highly desirable, therefore, if both rod movement relative to one of the tubes as well as movement of one of the tubes relative to the other, could be accomplished in a completely reliable, low-effort manner, permitting the user the choice of extending either or both of the support elements relative to the other in a simple and effective manner.
In view of the failure of the prior art to provide an appliance such as a paint roller or the like with an extensible telescoping handle that is able to be made at low cost and be both completely reliable and very convenient in operation, it is an object of the present invention to provide a paint roller apparatus with an improved extensible, telescoping handle.
It is another object of the invention to provide a paint application apparatus which includes a roller and a rod section for carrying the roller, and a pair of telescoping tubes, with a pair of eccentric or similar locking devices being provided to permit axial and rotational movement of the elements relative to each other by a simple manipulation of two handle parts of the apparatus.
A further object of the invention is to provide a telescoping handle arrangement for paint rollers or the like wherein no tools are required for use and in which any degree of adjustment within the overall length of the components may be easily accomplished by grasping exposed surfaces of the product, including a pair of hand grip elements that permit full retraction or nesting of the handle tubes.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a telescoping handle arrangement having at least two oneway or overrunning clutch type locking arrangements which are simple and self-contained, and which are very effective in use, especially when used with a proper arrangement of hand grips and other exposed surfaces.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a locking mechanism wherein, when two parts are to be released relative to each other, unlimited rotation is permitted in one direction, and relative rotation in another direction will rapidly secure the parts together.
Another object of the invention is to provide a locking/releasing arrangement which includes two sets of locks and two hand grips, one associated with each part of the locking devices, to facilitate grasping and manipulating whichever set of locks is desired.
A further object of the invention is to provide a telescoping handle apparatus for a paint roller or the like wherein the components are easily manufactured at low cost and wherein the device may be assembled in a simple and straightforward manner without using fasteners or adhesives.
A still further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus having a pair of locking devices, one of which is carried by a rod moving in a smaller diameter tube, and the other being carried by such smaller tube and moving within a larger tube, and wherein, in the retracted position, the locking devices lie adjacent each other within the larger tube and wherein a hand grip for the smaller tube can be provided without sacrificing compactness and full retractability.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a locking mechanism which includes a pair of cooperating cam lock elements, one including cylindrical guide surfaces for an adjacent tubular member and each including an eccentric or offset portion adapted to ensure that upon relative rotation in a given direction, the parts will be wedged together into a locked relation.
Another object of the invention is to provide a telescoping handle wherein, in one embodiment, the exterior of the larger tube serves as one handle for a tube pair and wherein the smaller tube includes a hand grip portion in the form of a skirt that radially closely overlies both the larger and smaller tubes and provides an annular recess for a part of the other hand grip.
The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention are achieved in practice by providing a paint roller handle assembly that includes a hollow first tube of a larger diameter, a hollow second tube of a smaller diameter and a still smaller rod or tube, with all of the rods or tubes comprising handle sections and being telescopingly retractable with respect to adjacent elements, and with the rod or smallest unit and the smaller tube each carrying a one way locking device on its end, and with the smaller tube having a hand grip providing an attachment portion and an axially extending skirt portion providing a recess between its inner diameter and the outer diameter of the smaller tube so as to accommodate the end of the larger tube when the units are in the retracted position.
The manner in which the foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention are achieved in practice will become more clearly apparent when reference is made to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the invention set forth by way of example and shown in the accompanying drawings in which like reference numbers indicate corresponding parts throughout.